Safety and Health in the Workplace

Abstract

Every human endeavor has a reasonable reason to be concerned about health and safety. For the safety of the teaching staff to be ensured in schools, the equipment already in place must be properly maintained, and any missing pieces must be installed in accordance with health and safety regulations. This article presents the results of a survey on the health and safety of secondary school teachers in the area, with an emphasis on the Mbooni West district. Many secondary school administrators do not take the teaching staff\'s suggestions for policies and procedures to reduce safety threats into account. The teaching staff finds it challenging to assume responsibility for their own safety as a result. Thus, the study aimed to determine instructors\' perceptions on their responsibility in protecting workplace health and safety. All teachers and assistant principals employed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the Secondary Schools Board of Management were the focus of the investigation (BOM). Although survey principles were a goal of the study, they weren\'t accessible at the time of data collection. The descriptive research design was used for this investigation. Data was collected using a questionnaire guide, and version 20 of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used for analysis. For data display, frequency tables and charts were used. The results showed that the majority of the teaching staff did not participate in training programmers that would have given them occupational safety skills. The majority of them did not participate in discussions about workplace safety regulations. This seriously compromised the safety of instructors at work, impairing their readiness to deal with health dangers and, consequently, their overall performance. In order to integrate teachers\' safety policies with the institutions strategic plans for workplace health and safety, it is advised that the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology coordinate training programmers for the teaching staff with the school administrations.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

It is your duty as an employer to keep the workplace safe and healthy. A safety and health management system, sometimes known as a safety programmes can direct your efforts toward bettering the workplace. Whatever name you choose it, your strategy outlines the steps your business takes to prevent illnesses and injuries at work.

Your company will have a special system that reflects how you conduct business, the risks you face at work, and how you oversee the health and safety of your employees: If you run a small company in a low-risk sector, your system can just be to pay attention to the worries of your staff and address them. A large company in a risky industry might have a full-time safety director and notebooks full of written regulations and procedures. The most crucial factor is that your system functions properly for your business. You must make the finest decision regarding how to run a safe and healthy workplace and implement your plan.

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

[2016][ Kassu  Jilcha , Daniel Kitaw] This review of the literature focuses on studies conducted starting in the 1980s. The goal of the study is to pinpoint current research gaps in workplace safety and health management and suggest new areas for investigation. Through the integration of research findings, the review enhances the value of an already-existing electronic database. A methodical literature review methodology has been employed to identify current gaps. The reviews were conducted using safety-related keywords and themes. The lack of operational activities by employees, the internal working environment, and the external environment, which impose hazards on employees temporarily, permanently, and on working environments, are some of the characteristics of workplace safety and health problems that have been found in the literature. Numerous studies have challenged the use of interdisciplinary techniques and a cooperative model between hub and periphery businesses to protect workplace safety threats and establish multilevel models. The remaining aspects of the discovery are the industrial topology elements and the information transfer system. The results of certain studies indicated that they had concentrated on particular health-related issues and health-related factors rather than on workplace safety as a whole. In general, this literature review compares the results of diverse studies based on their study methodology and conclusions in order to close knowledge gaps and advance the body of knowledge.

[2009] [  Marie Labergea and Elise Ledoux] Numerous overview articles, studies, book chapters, and literature reviews have looked at young employees' health and safety. These sources cover the connections between young workers' working conditions and numerous accident and occupational illness indicators. To identify the elements that best predicted workplace accidents and occupational disorders in young people, Breslinetal . [12, 13] conducted two literature reviews of quantitative research. In both qualitative and quantitative investigations, the current study suggests a review of the occupational health and safety (OHS) elements that affect young people, such as demographic, individual, professional, organisational   , temporal, and operational factors. Five different problem categories—MSD symptoms, respiratory, allergy, and toxicological issues; mental health and wellbeing; alcohol and drug use; and fatigue—were examined in greater detail  . This review also looks at associated factors that help us approach this topic from a more global perspective by taking into account things like young people's beliefs, knowledge, and attitudes, safety procedures in workplaces, young people's safe integration into society, and rehabilitation. Based on a set of standards, 189 scientific articles were chosen. These pieces were drawn from peer-reviewed OHS journals that appeared between 1994 and 2005.

 [2019] [  Abu Hamja , Malek Maalouf and Peter Hasle] Introduction: Garment manufacturers are increasingly using lean to boost output and save costs and lead times. However, whether lean genuinely boosts productivity has not been proven via research, and it is unclear whether lean can boost production without endangering occupational health and safety (OHS).

This article contributes to the discussion by summarising what is currently known about how lean affects productivity and OHS in the RMG sector.

Methodology: A thorough analysis of the peer-reviewed research that are currently available on lean in RMG and its implications on output and OHS.

Results: We found 18 pertinent studies that demonstrated lean's substantial beneficial benefits on productivity and weak to mixed effects on occupational safety and health.

Conclusions: Our findings show that lean in RMG is probably going to increase productivity, but RMG producers need to carefully consider how lean will affect OHS and adapt their lean implementation accordingly.

 [2006] [Felicity Lamm, Claire Massey and Martin Perry] Because of the growing interest in finding ways to enhance "performance" at work, research on the relationship between occupational health and safety (OHS) and raising employee productivity and performance has gained attention. Academics studying occupational health and safety have also acknowledged the advantages for society of implementing better health and safety regulations. The question of whether implementing changes will genuinely raise quantifiable economic benefits is up for discussion. Despite the fact that most of the study has been conducted abroad, there is sadly not much empirical New Zealand-based research in this field. The New Zealand government, specifically the Department of labour , has recently made an effort to address this issue by funding studies that look at potential connections between OHS interventions and firm performance and productivity as well as the motivations behind why businesses adopted OHS practises in the New Zealand context. The focus of the paper is the thorough literature evaluation that was conducted on the subject as part of this research.

[2006] [ Peter HASLE, Hans Jorgen LIMBORG] In order to pinpoint efficient preventive strategies and create a plan for future study, the scientific literature on preventive occupational health and safety actions in small businesses has been evaluated. Studies on small businesses have significantly increased during the past few of years, although the research community is dispersed across numerous academic fields and organisations. The effectiveness and practical application of intervention research have not been well evaluated. However, there is enough solid information to draw the conclusion that small businesses struggle to manage risk, and that their employees face higher hazards than those of larger businesses. Simple, inexpensive prevention strategies that are spread through personal contact appear to be the most successful. Future intervention research procedures that examine the entire intervention system, from intermediaries through distribution techniques to the small business preventative activities that ensue, must be developed.

6.[2015][ Behdin Nowrouzi, Nancy Lightfoot, Michael Larivière, Lorraine Carter ,Ellen Rukholm, Robert Schinke, and Diane Belanger-Gardner]

In order to control occupational stress and nurse burnout, this paper reviews the literature on workplace interventions (i.e., developing healthy work environments and enhancing nurses' quality of work life [QWL]). The terms nursing, nurses, stress, distress, stress management, burnout, and intervention were used in a literature search. The majority of the workplace intervention strategies discussed in all of the intervention studies included in this evaluation concerned individual stress management and burnout therapies. In order to attract and keep nurses in Ontario's rural and northern regions, recommendations are made to improve nurses' quality of life (QWL) in healthcare organisations through workplace health promotion initiatives. Due to the dearth of nurses practising primary care, these areas have particular needs in terms of human resources.

7. [2017] [A. Cooklin   , N. Joss, E. Husser   , B. Oldenburg] The goal of the study was to carry out a thorough evaluation of the efficacy of integrated workplace treatments that combine health promotion with occupational health and safety.

We thoroughly examined eight electronic databases, including Psych Info and MEDLINE (n = 8).

Studies that reported on workplace interventions that complied with the accepted criteria of a "integrated approach," published in English, in the academic literature since 1990, were considered for inclusion.

Workplace, country, sample size, intervention aims, follow-up time, and results reported were the data extracted. The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Practice Guidelines were used to evaluate the quality.

Formal meta-analyses were not possible due to heterogeneity. Five categories of results were created based on the outcome(s) that were evaluated (health promotion, injury prevention, occupational health and safety management, psychosocial, and return-on-investment). Results from a narrative synthesis were performed.

8. [2011] [ James R. Wilkins] The understanding and application of safety laws have become top concerns for construction enterprises as zero-accidents cultures gain popularity. An enlarged study of the literature found that while the delivery of training has mostly stayed constant, many industry leaders have responded by boosting the frequency and content of health and safety training programmes. To create and implement efficient workplace education programmes, it is essential to understand how employees perceive the training they receive. Data were gathered from a sample (n = 121) of construction professionals from throughout the United States who had completed an OSHA 10-Hour Construction Safety Training Course using a hybrid questionnaire with qualitative and quantitative components to assess perceptions and knowledge. The results described workforce programmes with effective training and identified a pervasive scenario in which trained trainers had not addressed the distinctive features of adult learning. Effective programmes for health and safety training increase both staff retention and adherence to regulations for health and safety. When adult learning theories are incorporated into safety trainer preparedness programmes, trainees are more likely to respond favourably to training programmes.

9. [2014] [ Nathalie Lanctôt , Stéphane Guay] Violence at work is a serious health and safety concern. Particularly at risk for workplace violence are healthcare personnel. The effects of being a victim of workplace violence, particularly in the healthcare industry, are little understood despite the study that has been done in this area. As a result, the purpose of this article is to review the literature on the effects of being exposed to workplace violence in the healthcare industry. The study comprised 68 papers, and those studies were assessed using the 12 criteria suggested for systematic reviews. The research categorised the effects of workplace violence into seven categories: (1) physical, (2) psychological, (3) emotional, (4) work functioning, (5) patient relationships/quality of care, (6) social/general, and (7) financial. The most common and significant impacts of workplace violence were psychological (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder, depression), emotional (e.g., rage, fear), and functional effects on work (e.g., sick leave, job satisfaction). In order to fully understand the direct and indirect effects of workplace violence, this paper concludes by urging further investigation, particularly longitudinal studies.

10.[2010][ Lei Hou ,Shaoze Wu ,Guomin (Kevin) Zhang ,Yongtao Tan  and Xiangyu Wang ] Safety has been a problem in the construction industry for many years. The sector continues to experience a high rate of casualties despite significant efforts to increase overall safety. In actuality, dynamic and intricate construction processes may cause on-site dangers and safety plans to be disregarded, which is likely to result in a number of safety mishaps. Modern sensing and visualization technologies have given rise to the possibility of enhancing workplace construction health and safety under the guidance of the digital twins (DT) concept. We conducted and reported a thorough review on the state-of-the-art technological studies, and we elaborate upon the key findings in detail in order to understand the research advances of these technologies, identify their gaps and challenges, and propose solutions to further advance the industry's safety. For instance, despite DT's effectiveness in increasing the safety of the construction workforce, the sector has not yet fully embraced and streamlined these advances. In conclusion, this analysis offers insights into technological clustering, improvement techniques, and workforce safety, all of which can profit from developing efficient digital technology  

III. OBJECTIVE

. The goal of the study was to carry out a thorough evaluation of the efficacy of integrated workplace treatments that combine health promotion with occupational health and safety.

Although life is unpredictable and you never know what will happen in the next second, your workplace culture should not be. Since everyone agrees that safety is crucial and must be observed in our daily lives, why should our place of employment be an exception?

In order for your employees to work to their maximum capacity and for your business to expand at the rate that you desire, it is crucial to give them the mental security of having both financial and medical security.

If you don't have the mental stability and assurance that your future and the future of your loved ones are secure, you won't be able to concentrate on your work and give it your all. As a result, it is clear that poor workplace health and safety can have a detrimental effect on your workforce, or your employees, preventing them from giving their full attention to their jobs.

IV. RESEARCH METHODOLGY

The explanation of the procedures used to conduct the study is included in the methodology (Kombo and Tromp). It responds to the "what," "why," and "where" questions (Kothari 2004).

This essay focused on the public secondary schools in the Mbooni West district of the Mbooni Sub County, which contains roughly 50 of them. Although it is advised that 10% of the population (Mugenda)

Approximately 10 public secondary schools, or 20% of these, were chosen by the author in 1999.

The Deputy Principal was chosen to make a total of 10 for every ten schools, and four teaching staff members to create a total of 40. Both simple random sampling and purposeful sampling were used in the investigation. On the one hand, random sampling is a technique that gives every member of the population an equal chance to be included in the study (Kasomo, 2006). Out of the 50 public secondary schools, the author chose 10 at random, or 20% of them. Random selection was used to choose the 10 public secondary schools. On the other side, purposeful sampling means that the sample might not be representative of the population (Kombo and Tromp, 2008, p. 83).

Participants from the administration were chosen using a purposeful sampling technique. As a result, there were 40 instructors and 10 administrators in the overall sample size of 50. Data were gathered for the study using an observation methodology and a questionnaire guide. In the study, descriptive statistics were used. Descriptive statistics were used to examine the data, and the results were displayed in charts and tables.

V. FINDINGS

Gender, age, title, academic background, duration of service, and departmental representation made up the demographic information. The following table displays this.

The percentages of male teachers and deputy principals were nearly equal to those of females, at 51% and49%, respectively.

N=49

The majority of respondents, or 53.1% of all those surveyed, were in the 20–30 age range.

The smallest age group, those between 30 and 40, made up 14.3% of the total, while those over 40 made up 32.7%.

Assistant instructors made up the majority of respondents, with 26 (53.1%). Twelve respondents (24.5%) were HODs, while eleven (22.4%) were deputy principals. It is clear from this that the respondents who supplied information on health and safety in the chosen secondary schools were primarily assistant teachers.

The majority of instructors (77.6%) had degrees, followed by those with diplomas (14.3%), and those with master's degrees or ongoing studies made up 4.1% of the total. We can infer from this data that the majority of respondents have higher levels of education than the minimum qualification for teaching, which is a diploma. As a result, it is assumed that they are more knowledgeable about occupational health and safety and are able to offer accurate information.

The majority (25 of the teachers and deputy principals) had been in the educational profession for more than five years. One-fourth of the respondents, or 24, had fewer than five years of teaching experience. This suggests that both individuals who joined the military while they were young and those who served for a longer period of time were represented. However, respondents were more likely to be younger than average.

N=49

It is clear that the department of languages had the biggest percentage of responders (18, 36.7%). Following this department closely are the Humanities with 15 (30.6%), Science with 10 (20.4%), Mathematics with 3 (6.1%), and Applied Sciences with 4.1%, while only a small percentage of respondents (2.0%) were interested in Art & Music. Since all the departments were represented, we can infer that the information provided by the respondents was accurate.

28 (57.1%) of the teachers and deputy principals who responded to the survey did not participate in any kind of occupational health and safety training. Ten (20.4%) of respondents who indicated they participated in training programmes mentioned that it was done annually; eight (16.3%) said it was done on a termly basis; one (2.0%) said it was done on a monthly basis; and one (2.0%) said it was done weekly. This suggests that the majority (57.1%) of teachers and deputy principals are not at all active in workplace training programmes.

Teachers used survey results to determine how the school administration handles safety concerns that have previously been identified and reported. They found that 37 respondents, or 75.5%, said that the administration responds quickly to safety concerns when they are brought to their attention. Seven (14.3%) respondents did not know how the school administration reacts to reported safety issues, while 5 (10.2%) respondents claimed that the administration was unwilling. We might infer from this that the majority of respondents (75.5%) stated that the school administration reacts quickly to complaints about workplace health and safety.

The study also aimed to determine how frequently the teaching staff participated in workplace safety policy discussions. Table 11 reveals that 22 respondents (or 44.9%) felt they had no involvement at all in the debate of safety regulations at their place of employment. Only 1 respondent (2.0%) claimed that such conversations took place on a daily basis, while 13 (26.5%) said they took place on a termly basis. Of the respondents who stated they participated in such discussions annually, 4 (8.2%) did so. Only 6 people (12.2%) claimed to participate in the conversation on a weekly basis, while 2 people (4.1%) claimed to participate regularly. The majority of teachers and deputy principals (44.9%) were not at all participating in workplace safety policy discussions, according to the research. This is consistent with a research on staff wellness programmes done by Eaton et al., (2000). According to their study's findings, the majority of participants (67.2%) believed that health promotion can help recruit and retain knowledgeable professors and staff (Eaton et al., 2000). This suggests that training programmes are crucial for providing the teaching staff with the necessary safety skills in order to promote their health and enable them to stay in their jobs for a longer period of time. 36.7% of teachers and deputy principals stated they took part in formal meetings for the purpose of maintaining safety, compared to 12.2% who said they took part in informal meetings. At least 10.2% of respondents claimed that they obtained safety information from the notice boards in their schools in order to secure their own safety, while 18.4% said they were unsure of how they did so. The majority of these percentages are below average (50.0%), yet the survey found that the teaching staff at least contributed to their personal safety by being familiar with safety information through official and informal meetings and the school's notice board.

Conclusion

Therefore, it is clear that poor workplace health and safety can have a negative effect on your workforce, i.e., your employees, and cause them to be less focused and unable to devote their full effort to their work. The majority of them did not participate in discussions about workplace safety regulations. This seriously compromised the safety of instructors at work, impairing their readiness to deal with health dangers and, consequently, their overall performance. In order to integrate teachers\' safety policies with the institutions strategic plans for workplace health and safety, it is advised that the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology coordinate training programmers for the teaching staff with the school administrations.

References

[1] 2016, Kassu Jilcha and Daniel Kitaw , Researchgate.net [2] 2009, Marie Labergea and Elise Ledoux , content.iospress.com [3] 2019, Abu Hamja , Malek Maalouf and Peter Hasle ,tandfonline.com [4] 2006,Felicity Lamm, Claire Massey and Martin Perry ,researchgate.net [5] 2006, Peter HASLE, Hans Jørgen LIMBORG , jst.go.jp [6] 2015,Behdin Nowrouzi, Nancy Lightfoot, Michael Larivière, Lorraine Carter,Ellen Rukholm, Robert Schinke, and Diane Belanger-Gardner ,sagepub.com [7] 2017,A. Cooklin, N. Joss, E. Husser , B. Oldenburg ,researchgate.net [8] 2011,James R. Wilkins ,tandfonline.com [9] 2014, Nathalie Lanctôt , Stéphane Guay ,atriumclinic.co.uk [10] 2010, Lei Hou , Shaoze Wu , Guomin (Kevin) Zhang ,Yongtao Tan and Xiangyu Wang , mdpi.com

Copyright

Copyright © 2023 Dr. Archana Dixit, Purvasha Aggarwal. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.